"An intimate glimpse into the lives of writers, runners, sons, brothers, husbands, and fathers." The New York Stories is TNBBC Top Reads of 2015, quite fine company and so Ludlow.

It really is Top Read, much appreciated, fine company, thrilled, and Ludlow, be still our hearts. Excerpt? Of course. Endlessly.

"We have the privilege of seeing some at their most honest and vulnerable and others as they make mistakes, come of age, regress in maturity, and carry forward hope that they will make better choices next time." 

"Tanzer keeps the story focused on human frailty." Orphans. Preach.

And yes, we would really like preach to be a thing. Is that cool? Also, excerpt? Word.

"The story is smart and absurd and even eerie in parts which is a new bent for the author. The scifi elements never go off the deep end -- they always feel believable, trusting the reader to grasp everything without all the details."

No Tears For Old Scratch by the Ken Wohlrob there is. And how did we not mention this sooner?

No idea, yo, but we are now, so do hit it.

Massive lit love. Lost in Space. Fine company. And the Kristin Fouquet, who is so full goodness our heads just might explode.

A quasi-mixed media KGB Bar wrap-up.

We were KGB Bar. We were read. We met the Lori Hettler. We got to see the Michael Paige Glover and Ken Wohlrob. There was the Greg Olear. There is video to prove it. It was goodness. All of it. And much appreciated.

"You can run but you can’t hide. At least not from your own life." You Can Make Him Like You gets Ken Wohlrob'd. And likes it. A lot.

Long-time TBWCYL, Inc. favorite Ken Wohlrob has some most kind things to say about You Can Make Him Like You and we are most appreciative. Drinks, and Thai food, on us sir when next we meet.

"Tanzer’s love of writing pop stories, that reveling in what can be new and poignant in oft-tread ground, wins the day. His greatest skill — and it’s been this way through all of his novels and short stories — is to take the normal, the everyday we all know and live through, and to turn that into great tragicomedy."

This Book Will Change Your Life - Songs Of Vagabonds, Misfits, and Sinners by Ken Wohlrob.

Work. Travel. Read. Comp time. Read. Weekend. And Songs of Vagabonds, Misfits, and Sinners by TBWCYL, Inc. favorite Ken Wolhrob. It strikes us that when it comes to Ken's work we are supposed to have various associations, New York City, grittiness, diverse and colorful characters, an ear for the street, or neighborhoods certainly, their vernacular, rhythm and flow, and all this is true. It is also strikes us that with Songs Ken continues to pursue the short story that is not quite so short, stories with some heft, and room to breathe, and this excites us, it's not the norm, and not the norm is good, not the norm enriches the form, and this is something Ken reaches for with every new effort. And yet, as we say all this, we really want to say something else, something that lingers as we reflect on not just Songs, but Ken's previous collection The Love Book as well. Interwoven throughout all of these stories is the struggle to hold onto one's identity and who the characters, and readers, think we are in the face of change and loss and disappointment, whether that be neighborhoods or relationships, scams or art sales. Further there is an ongoing calculation in all of Ken's work which grows out of the idea that even as something is slipping away from them, us, or something is being destroyed, the characters, and again the readers, are always being forced to ask themselves, ourselves, is this, this thing that is happening, is it okay, can I live with it, and is this really who I am, or was, or will be? Its a fundamental question, and Ken knows this, as surely as he knows grit and neighborhood and all the things we now think of as Wohlrobian.

Word Riot. Ken Wohlrob. Righteousness.

Excited we are to see a new interview with long-time TBWCYL, Inc. favorite Ken Wohlrob up at the Word Riot. We are equally excited about Ken's new joint Songs of Vagabond, Misfits, and Sinners and promise to share our thoughts soon. Really. Now go and enjoy some excerpt.

What is the most misunderstood aspect of your work?

I often get accused of being heavy-handed in my writing. In my own defense, I chalk that more up to writers (and writing) having become too solipsistic in the past decade. I think we’ve had a complete overload of navel-gazing by writers from my generation. I’d rather tell an interesting story with characters that have actual blood in their veins (rather than being stand-ins for my relatives or ex-girlfriends). A lot of contemporary writers tend to be self-focused. But because readers have become so used to those types of stories, I think sometimes, they are caught off guard by my writing. The stories I tell are very rooted in the real world and those moral gray areas that confront us all. Some readers mistakenly think I have a strong message that I want to convey by writing in that manner. I’m really trying to drag the readers back into the thick of it, making them more actively involved in the story, forcing them to take sides as opposed to just sitting there as an unfeeling bystander. I don’t have an agenda in my stories, I just want you to be actively involved and think about the characters and their eventual outcome.

Some quite unexpected Karen the Small Press Librarian Repetition Patterns love.

The always awesome Karen Lillis has a way cool project going on at her blog Karen the Small Press Librarian where she is inviting indie writers to list their three favorite indie releases of the last two years. We have been working on our submission and were quite, quite geeked to see Repetition Patterns make an appearance on today's dual posting by long-time TBWCYL, Inc. favorites Ken Wohlrob and Tim Hall. Big thanks all-around some excerpt below, and look for our list soon, so, so soon.

"In many ways, Ben's writing reminds me of Mike's (Faloon) in how unforced it all is. There seems no effort behind it. And the stories are always great. This e-only collection was a nice step up for Ben. He took it to a whole different level compared to his previous work. And I always like that he writes good female characters, something too many male writers can't do very well. I also liked that CCLaP was experimenting with a different publishing model for this release and doing it as a digital- only release."

Some things we are digging as we prepare to briefly drop off of the grid.

Fact, we are sort of mostly briefly dropping off of the grid this week. And so we sort of thought we should leave you with some stuff to read and/or contemplate during our time away.

Yes, we're just good like that.

First off, Stories II from the most excellent short story writer Scott McClanahan is due out soon. This is quite good news. The dude is the bomb. We loved Stories. And yes we love him as well and we are not embarrassed to say so.

We would add, that Scott has also recorded a piece from Stories II for the fine crew at Apostrophe Cast and it should be heard, so why not listen to it? They are even throwing in an interview for your reading pleasure. Enjoy.

The Nick Ostdick has a new piece titled True Hair up on STORYGLOSSIA. Yes, that STORYGLOSSIA. Please feel free to consume it. And yes we love him too.

Meanwhile, for the record, feel free to assume that all writers, and publishers, referenced going forward are loved by the staff here at TBWCYL, Inc. We say, so we don't have to sound repetitive. We also say this, because how many times can you say love something before it grows stale?

This is a no stale zone. Cool?

There is a fine interview with Ken Wohlrob at Emprise Review.

And we have alternative cover and pre-order action for the Fox Force 5 collection from Paper Hero Press. Very good.

Robert Duffer has a most excellent piece on the most excellent Jason Behrends and Orange Alert at Time Out Chicago.

The Collin Kelley has a conversation with singer Vannessa Daou at soldout.

We get to learn Mel Bosworth's Best of 2009 at the Big Other.

The J.A. Tyler's novella Inconceivable Wilson from Scrambler Books is now available for pre-order. Nice.

The Pete Anderson has a series of wonderful short story reviews at the Pete Lit including pieces by TBWCYL, Inc. favorites Spencer Dew, William Walsh and the always something Kendra Grant Malone.

David Masciotra has a killer piece on the progressive politics of Tim McGraw at the Daily Yonder.

And finally, Tim Hall brings us new Uplift the Positivicals. Can you say, Santa on the beach? We thought you could.

Can you say finito?

Big props to TBWCYL, Inc. favorite Ken Wohlrob for finishing his first novel No Tears For Old Scratch. Quite nice. Congratulations man.

Some much appreciated praise for Repetition Patterns.

Good friend and crack short story writer Ken Wohlrob had some kind words for Repetition Patterns which he recently posted on Goodreads. Many thanks to Ken whose work we admire, and for the rest of you an excerpt. Cool?

"It's a sign that midway through any of these tales, you suddenly care about what happens to these characters, as if they were your own old friends. Having read Ben's work before, this collection stands out as his best effort."

Friends! Interviews! Downloads! Compassion?

That may have been a lame play on words, though maybe not, we will definitely focus group that and get back to you. In the interim though, we came across two things we want to share with you from and about two friends and writers we are fans of. First off, Joshua Mohr author of Some Things That Meant The World To Me, which we recently riffed on here at the blog, has a great interview up at SFGate, very nice, do check it out, and second, Ken Wohlrob of the Love Book fame, also riffed on here at blog, has a new story, Job in Williamsburg, which we read some version of along the way, also very nice, that he is releasing as a downloadable e-book, the first apparently of monthly dowloads he intends to make available, so do check this out as well. We would add here, that both of these shout-outs do tie into this now ongoing diatribe of ours, books are not dead, and writers are not obsolete, but we do need to work it. Cool?

Six Sentences. Six Deaths. Ken Wohlrob. Goodness.

We of course have never had any qualms expressing our affection for any number of writers and Ken Wohlrob author of the quite fine short story collection The Love Book is certainly no exception. Today we wanted to take a moment to hype a newish joint of his, the kick-ass magazine-style Six Deaths which was posted on the equally kick-ass Six Sentences as part of the Six Sixes series. We know that this is a lot of Six, but don't be frightened by this. Nor should you be frightened by all the quality death going on here. Instead we recommend that you embrace it, the six, the death, the Wohlrob, all of it. Who knows it just might change your life.

The TBWCYL, Inc. 2008 Top Ten Lists are coming and today you get our Top Ten Books. No for real, you do. Just look below.

It is Top Ten time here are TBWCYL, Inc. and our plan is to roll out lists on books, movies and music as we did last year and maybe add one on television this year as well. As we have also done in the past, we are not limiting our books list to books released in 2008, though we will do so with our other lists. On the other hand, we are quite pleased to say that we have done some kind of review on everyone of these books during the last year here at This Blog Will Change Your Life, and while we may be terribly biased in our reviews and choices, something that bothers us not in the least, we are happy to say that we have also had the opportunity to connect with everyone of these authors in some capacity, which frankly is quite cool, for us anyway, the experience for them may have been something else entirely. That said, here we go (including the hyperlink to our previous reviews):

(1) Breaking it Down - Rusty Barnes
(2) The Lost Episodes of Beatie Scareli - Ginnetta Correli
(3) Black Flies - Shannon Burke
(4) Half-Empty - Tim Hall
(5) The Heebie-Jeebies and CBGB's - Steven Lee Beeber
(6) Songs of Insurgency - Spencer Dew
(7) Sunbeams and Cigarettes - Nick Ostdick
(8) The Love Book - Ken Wohlrob
(9) Unmarketable - Anne Elizabeth Moore
(10) When the Leaves are Falling - Kelly Moran

Honorable mention: I Call This Flirting - Sherrie Flick, Unlucky Lucky Days - Daniel Grandbois and My Inflatable Friend - The Confessions of Rollo Hemphill - Gerald Jones.

Please note, that all of these books are self-published or released by independent presses, something that pleases us to no end. Also, we honestly believe that all of these books will change your life, though to be honest, even if they don't, your patronage and support will certainly help change the lives of the authors and their publishers.

Coolness and the Happy Bus. Oh, and Happy New Year. That's a lot of happy isn't it? It is. Though with a touch of sadness as well.

Friend and fellow author Ken Wohlrob is attempting quite a cool thing - releasing his story Happy Bus, from the most excellent short story collection The Love Book, as a free eBook for the iPhone, SONY Reader, Kindle and whatever else is out there on the electronic frontier. You can check it out on his website, and we hope you will, because it just may be the future of publishing. Now does this make us somewhat sad, we think so, but that may neither be here or there, we just like the feel of a book in our hands damn it. And yes, even as we write this, we do of course recognize that we eagerly participated in the e-release of Repetition Patterns, our short story collection from CCLaP Publishing, but what can we say, while we are quite proud of it, and are very much enjoying the experience, we are still conflicted about the state of media, all media, as we head into 2009. That said, we are way supportive of Ken, the dude can flat-out write, we want good literature to find an audience regardless of the means, and we definitely want this effort to be a huge and raging success however that is defined in this day and age. So, done, and Happy New Year.

Freebird Books reading love.

We had a most excellent time reading at Freebird Books in Brooklyn this past Sunday night and want to offer many thanks to the quite awesome Ken Wohlrob author of the quite awesome The Love Book for arranging the reading, and reading himself - see him actually reading below, for real; Peter from Freebird for hosting, now please go buy books there, and a lot of them; and to the various people who came out, including, but not limited to long-time friends Lisa and Laura, old, like many decades old, friend and This Zine Will Change Your Life compatriot Adam Lawrence, and new bestest friend Michael Paige Glover the wonderful and quite cool artist that did the cover for "Most Likely Your Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine," who we would add can be seen below with TBWCYL, Inc. spokesperson and "Go Your Way..." author Ben Tanzer, who wants you to know that he cannot explain what happened to his hair in this particular shot though he thinks it has something to do with the failed Wall Street bail-out.

So hit it, Take Two.

The Love Book? Love it. For reals.

We recently had the chance to read The Love Book by Ken Wohlrob who we will be reading with on September 28th at Freebird Books in Brooklyn and we wanted to let you know how much we enjoyed it. There are just five not so short, short stories in this unbelievably rich collection, and while love may be the operative word here, we're not sure anyone would call them love stories, per se. Now that said, are these stories all about how love gets warped, lost, manipulated, sublimated, twisted, fetishized, tainted and occasionally celebrated? Yes, and more. And so do we think you should you read this collection? Yes, again, for sure, so, go ahead, please read The Love Book, it just might change your life.

Guest blogging, massive name-dropping and much love for the quite awesome J. Kaye Oldner.

J. Kaye Oldner of the kick-ass J. Kaye's book blog invited TBWCYL, Inc. spokesperson Ben Tanzer to guest blog today, which he has done, and despite his great desire to endlessly and shamelessly feed his massive ego and talk on and on about his writing prowess and massive successes, we here at headquarters decided that it might be more appropriate to temper that a bit and focus on all of the wonderful writers, bloggers and friends, new and old, we have met, connected and re-connected with during the last year as Lucky Man has shown some legs and Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine has found a home and been released. Which is not to say we didn't take a moment to hype our awseomeness, or stroke our beloved narcissism, just that we thought we would cast the net a little more widely. So, many thanks and much love to J. Kaye, this was much fun.